Men's Cross Country

Cross Country Headed to Santa Clara for Final Pre-Conference Competition

Oct 10, 2017

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -EDIT 10/12/17 - Due to the air quality in the Bay Area from all the recent fires, the cross country teams will instead be heading to Riverside to compete in the Highlander Invitational which also takes place this Saturday October 14th. The men will compete in the six kilometer race while the women will be racing five kilometers. The first race is set to start on Saturday at 8:00 a.m.

The UC Santa Barbara cross country teams are set to compete at the Santa Clara University Bronco Invitational at Baylands Regional Park this Saturday October 14th. The meet will serve as their last regular season competition before they face the rest of the Big West at the conference championships in three weeks time.

Baylands Regional Park is located in Sunnyvale, California, approximately ten miles North of Santa Clara University at the Southwest end of the San Francisco Bay. The course at Baylands consists of low cut grass and hard packed dirt paths, with a few short paved sections. This year's event will take place two weeks prior to Conference Championship weekend and provides a flat and fast course.

Parking is $6.00 per vehicle. Do not park in unmarked spaces or the City will tow your vehicle. Overflow parking is available next to Baylands at the Twin Creeks Softball complex.

Men's Preview

The pecking order for the men took a recent turn at the Bill Dellinger Invitational with Isaiah Lozano's breakout performance, clocking a 24:25.3 clocking for the eight kilometer distance. The likes of true freshman Brian Schulz and Patrick Bourke have been consistent the past few meets with Schulz getting the best of the fifth year senior up in Oregon, while George Baier finally made his return to the fray as the number four man. The Big West 10,000 meter scorer in Yousef Baddour has also slowly been making progress as the days tick closer to conference time.

That's not to say that those top five spots are secure. True freshman Jarett Chinn was a mere eight seconds behind Baddour at Dellinger, and fellow true freshman Nick Randazzo has not been too far behind, scoring as the fifth man all the way back at the Riverside Invitational. The results from this weekend will be interesting to watch as the men figure out just who's ready to make that conference bid.

Women's Preview

An individual top ten finish at Dellinger from Jenna Hinkle cemented her status as a national class contender, and her position as a low stick in scoring can only further assist the team heading into this weekend. Katie Camarena was a mere second off of Cal Poly's No. 2 runner at Dellinger, and with the Mustangs in attendance at Santa Clara as well, this gives her another opportunity to see where she stands in the conference hierarchy. Teammate Miranda Ross is also in a similar boat, trailing just farther back of Cal Poly's No. 3 scorer at the same meet.

With the top three practically set, the four and five scoring positions will be what the lady Gauchos will be keen to look for coming into this weekend. The main contenders have so far been Emily Lopez, Celeste Wilson, Isa Marshall, and true freshman Ellie Nisbet, all having either taking a fourth or fifth scoring position at some point this season. There are some Gauchos hidden in the woodwork that have a chance to show what they're capable of, so much akin to the men it will be an intriguing sight to behold as the race unfolds this Saturday.

Check back at UCSBGauchos.com for future coverage and follow the team on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for additional photos and news.